In the past, namely at least twenty years ago and back in time, ammunition was packaged in wooden containers. The hazards associated with storage fires of ammunition packaged in wooden containers are considerably less severe than for the same ammunition packaged in metal containers. Wood, however, is no longer an acceptable material for use in ammunition packaging since it will not satisfy all present ammunition packaging requirements. Containers made of metal are nuclear, biological and chemical decontaminable, hold a pressure seal for long term storage, are resealable and are reusable. Wood satisfies none of these requirements sufficiently well.
Ammunition has been stored in metal containers now, for about the last twenty years, satisfying some of the above noted deficiencies of wood but creating other problems. Ammunition that is confined in a sealed metal container when exposed to a storage fire without any way of pressure venting, result in a rapid buildup of pressure inside the container, caused by initiation of the explosive or propellant material and to be referred to as energetics herein. Without relief, this rapid pressure buildup often results in a sever deflagration reaction. Facilities and personnel are at a substantial risk. Pressure relief valves can not be used in containers for packaging ammunition since there must be sufficient area to vent the pressure buildup from ignited ammunition. No known relief valve exists having the required flow rate required to adequately vent the container.
It would be a great advance in the art if some device or method were to be devised that would package ammunition so that it could be transported and roughly handled under the requirements of military standards. Energetics will react if confined, so it would be of great advantage if a way could be devised to reduce the confinement provided by a sealed ammunition container to thereby reduce the seventy of the reaction.
Accordingly, it is an object of this invention to provide a metal container for ammunition that will be capable of reducing the damage to the surroundings in the event of a fire.
Another object of this invention is to provide such a container that substantially reduces fragments that are hazardous to personnel when the ammunition is contacted by fire.
Still another object of this invention is to reduce propagation to adjacent ammunition when ammunition stored in a metal container is exposed to fire.
A specific object is to provide a device for use with sealed ammunition containers that employ a vent area for pressure release of ignited energetics, to thereby reduce confinement to a level that is substantially less hazardous.
Other Objects will appear hereinafter.